A Batty Day
by JEDI Sheng
Summary: *Yawn* What a boring day... A Predicon battle crusier crash-lands, two new Maximals get introduced, Snarl gets a mate, and a fruit bat with no echoloctaion shows up. Yup. All in all a very dull day... Wait a nano... (Third in the BW series)
1. Chapter 1

**A BATTY DAY**

J.E.D.I 

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'The battle against evil continues on… now and forever we will fight.' 

Wait a cycle... I'm quoting Silverbolt! Oh, this is sorry. 

Anyway... HERE WE GO AGAIN 

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This story and any of it's characters herein are totally fictitious and any resemblance   
to real people and/or events is purely coincidental. Most characters are trademarked   
/copyrighted to Hasbro, Kenner, Takara, Marvel, Alliance, and probably a lot of   
others. This fanfic is unauthorized and is simply meant for the free entertainment of   
BW fans. Anybody that wants to sue me will get about negative 5 dollars. Sorry. 

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WARNING! ! ! : The author once **again** has taken license to write out her views of what may or may not be true. This is simply a fanfic. It doesn't make anybody else's point of view wrong or right. 

TIMELINE : This story takes place after the quantum surge, about one or two battles after 'Two for One'. I'm going on my own timeline; this is the third story in this Series. So pretty much everything that happened before the 'Cutting Edge' episode in 'Season Three' (before Transmetal II's and the love triangle [UGH!!]) can and probably will be worked in. 

P.S.: Anybody with any ideas or anything, '_Roger me, Wilco me, ANYTHING! Hello, hello, Earth!_' Any complaints, congratulations, or threats can be sent to J.E.D.I (me) at pderoeck@bellsouth.net 

A Batty Day 

Chapter One 

Snarl trotted along, paying close attention to his surroundings. If Rodeesh trusted him enough to send him on a solo mission to recover two of the desperately stasis-pods… far be it from Snarl to let his hero down. Snarl chuckled; he could almost hear Rodeesh groaning at tat last thought. Snarl scanned around carefully, for all he knew, one or two of the Predicons could be Stealth-Masters like Nightwolf and Skywitch were. Scanning furtively, he finally found the two pods. 

Snarl trotted forward happily. It was about time!! Snarl did a mental gauge to see how far away the pods were. Yup, time to call in. *'Snarl to good guy central. Come in Good Guy Central. Hey Rod, you still on communications watch?'* he asked over his comm. in good humor, certain of Rodeesh's response. 

*'How many times do I have to tell you that my name is **Cheetor**, Snarl?'* 

*'If your name is Cheetor, how come Windchaser, Skywitch and First Aid call you Rodeesh?'* 

*' Never mind. What is your report?'* 

*'Nice Silverbolt imitation. I'm about two cycles fast walking from the stasis-pods and closing fast.'* 

*'Copy that Snarl, I'll send Silverbolt, Black Aracnia, and Nightwolf to your position. I'm picking up some Pred energy signatures in your area if you're wondering why the back up. Stay put, I'll have Nightwolf transport them above the canopy.'* 

*'Check. Snarl out… Rodeesh!'* 

*'Cheetor!!'* 

Snarl chuckled, then paused and asked the air in front of him, "Transport?" 

Megator leaned back. It was so nice to have more than twice the number of fighters as your opponent. It made life so much easier. 

* 'Megator!' * 

Megator jumped slightly, he felt fear slide its icy fingers around his spark for a nanoclick before he recognized the voice as one of his new fighters. 

* 'Megator here, yeeeessssss. What is your report?' * 

* 'Two stasis-pods located in Sector Tallories, there is a group of Maximals heading rapidly in that direction. Request permission to take some fighters and stop them, then reprogram the protoforms as Predicons.' * 

* 'Permission granted, yeeeessssss. Megator out.' * 

Megator smiled evilly into the gloom of his desert-crashed ship. Two more fighters for his ranks, and quite possibly a chance to rid himself of a few more Maximals. 

Life, was definitely good for the evil. Yeeeessssss. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When he awoke, he noticed two things first. One that he was on a strange, organic looking planet, and Two… There was a battle going on around him. 

"Ha! You're too late Preds, they're both Maximals!!" A short brown, gray and black Maximal with blue optics shouted defiantly, as he shot at another robot with his arm cannon. '_Both? Who else is there?!?_' He looked around; there were three other Maximals besides the brown and black one fighting the six Predicons present. One of the males was almost completely black with some crimson red highlights. The second male was built almost identical to the black and red one, but this one was colored in grays, silvers, and had a splash of gold here and there. The last fighter was a black and yellow femme with looks that could kill. '_Okay, so where's the other protoform? These four fighters are working to well together for one of them to be a protoform._' That question was answered less than a nanoclick later when a gray kangaroo suddenly jumped over him and landed on top of one of the Predicons. 

"Ha Ha!! Feel the choler of Talac!" 

"The WHAT?" the black femme asked, with a hint of anger in her voice. 

"Anger, ire, indignation; vengeance; fury, rage." 

"Wraith?" the black male asked. 

"Whatever," Talac said. 

"Hey! Bat-bot! Planning on joining the party anytime soon?!?" the small brown and black bot shouted. 

'_Bat-bot? Now who is that? Me?_' He looked down at himself. Yup, definitely a bat, either that or a rat with wings and a fox face. 

"Ummm… okay. Ahem. Nightwing… MAXIMIZE!!" Nightwing transformed then looked down at himself. His robotic legs had been what formed his beast-mode upper-body, as had the metal flap. His true beast-mode legs swung behind his body so that the claws attached to his shoulders from behind. His beast-mode head became his battle-mode chest-plate, and he kept his wings as a one-fingered arm. His robotic head hand a half-mask over it and his helmet had a high faction lift with a ridge running back from it. It also had two sideways scalpels on it. (For reference, it is the Prowl toy's head with a new paint job) Nightwing nodded, he had to admit, he did look good. His mostly black color scheme helped, in fact, the only things not black on him were his legs, feet, and half-mask, which were a soft silver color. 

"Will you stop admiring how good you look after you wig and HELP?!?" The gray kangaroo, Talac, asked as she kicked out at another Predicon. 

"Wig?" Nightwing asked. 

"Change, alteration, transmutation; conversion, transfiguration; metamorphosis; switch…" 

"Transform?" 

"Whatever." 

"Why don't you maximize?" 

"I tried, I can't. I'm locked in beast-mode for some reason." 

"I'll take a look at you when we're done," said the black and red robot. "I'm a medic." 

"Hey, guys! Usually I'm the last one to complain about having a chat during a fight… but HELP!!!" the small brown and black fighter shouted, as two large Predicon femmes turned all their attention to him. 

"I will try to help Snarl, but it against my 'Code of Chivalry' to strike a female." 

"No offense, Silverbolt," the brown and black bot, Snarl apparently, said. "But your 'Code of Chivalry' isn't helping me much." Snarl yelp as one of the blasts connected with his chest. "I repeat, HELP!!" 

Nightwing leaped forward to help, pulling his Electric-shock staff out of sub-space as he ran up behind the femme closest to him. 

"Alright solider, we're goin' ta war." He said, in a pretty good John Wayne imitation. With that, Nightwing stabbed the femme with the spear-like weapons. Immediately, the electricity poured out of it and into her… with explosive results. 

The other femme spun around to face him when her teammate suddenly went flying over head. 

That unfortunately, for her at least, meant that her back was turned to the brown and black bot. Which meant that she couldn't avoid and did not see the blast that connected with her back from his arm cannon. 

Nightwing relaxed slightly as the other four fighters came up to stand next to himself and Snarl. 

"I am sorry that I could not assist you Snarl, but…" 

"Relax, Bolt. It's fine. I understand." 

The gray and silver Maximal chuckled, then turned to face the two new fighters. "Good day to the both of you. As you have probably figured out, my name is Silverbolt." 

"I'm Snarl, pleased to meet you." 

"I'm Black Aracnia, "said the black and yellow femme. Making Nightwing suddenly wish to be in an empty room with her. 

"And I'm Nightwolf," said the black and red bot. He leaned over and whispered into Nightwing's audio receiver, "Don't get excited. Black Aracnia has that effect on every male, but if you try to follow it out, you'll have Sir Lancelot on your tail." 

Nightwing blinked in surprise. Well, maybe he should tell them before the next fight… at their base or whatever. 

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**Back at the Drake…**

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"You're a WHAT!?!" 

"A comedian. I signed onto the Axalon to help keep moral up." 

"Then where did you learn to fight?!?" 

"A learned a little defense and such, about the same amount as any other citizen." 

But you're a COMEDIAN?!?" Snarl shouted yet again. 

"He's a what?" a gold and blue robot asked, apparently having just come in the door. 

"He's a COMEDIAN!! He isn't a fighter! He's a Comedian!!" 

"He's a WHAT?!?" A tall silver and white femme asked, having just come on the scene behind the gold and blue robot. 

"A COMEDIAN! Windchaser, he's a COMEDIAN!!" 

"SNARL!" the gold and blue robot shouted. Everyone spun around. The tall robot flipped his wings slightly and lashed his tail. "Thank you. Now if everyone is done shooting at our new ally…" he paused while he turned a blue eyed glare to Snarl and the silver and white femme. He crossed his arms over his chest calmly and waited until Snarl and the femme dropped their eyes. "Now, Nightwing is it? Would you please explain yourself?" 

Nightwing smiled and nodded, a pretty impressive feet considering the fact that he had almost no neck in his beast mode. "Okay… uh… cat-person, I'll explain." Nightwing ignored the chuckle or two that he'd elected and continued on. "Back on Cybertron I was a pretty good comedian. I got interested in Space travel and exploration. So I checked the listings and decided on the Axalon. I was accepted, and, well, that's it." 

"Not nearly as interesting as my story." the gold and blue robot said with a contagious grin. "By the way, why are you standing? I thought all bats hung." 

"I guess they do," said the flying fox (yes there IS such an animal. He is NOT a Fuzor) "But I like pictures right side up better." 

"Huh? What'd he say Rodeesh?" 

"Snarl, will you PLEASE call me CHEETOR?!?" 

"Rodeesh." 

"Windchaser! It's Cheetor! An I think he meant he prefers standing Snarl." 

"Ohhhhhh…" 

"Rodeesh." 

"Cheetor." 

"Rodeesh!" 

"Cheetor!" 

"Rodeesh!!" 

"Cheetor!!" 

Nightwing blinked and shook his head as Cheetor and Windchaser argued over the cat's name. He suddenly got the feeling that he was going to have it pretty easy to keep moral up around here. 

  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Nightwolf smiled happily. First Aid was loving it. Talac sat on the table in beast-mode, looking worried at the display of medical instruments that First Aid was using to check her. Nightwolf's 'Sight' had already given them a probable answer. But both of them knew that 'Healer's Sight' could and had been tricked before. So it was best to have First Aid check her too, and confirm it. 

First Aid had readily slipped into the life that he now led. Matter of fact, almost everyone had forgotten that he had once been an Autobot… and First Aid loved it. 

"Well, what's that?" Talac asked yet again, as First Aid put down one instrument and picked up another. 

"It's to check your systems to see if any were burnt or melted down when your pod crashed during the quantum surge." 

"I thought you said that was what the last three gizmos were plied for!" 

"Plied?" 

"Utilized, harnessed, employed, operated, wielded…" 

"Used?" 

"Whatever." 

"No. Those checked for different things." 

"Well, what does that one do?" Talac asked again as First Aid put down the first Gizmo and leaned over to pick something else up. 

"THAT one does something very, VERY dangerous." 

"Dangerous?" Talac squeaked. 

"Yeeeessssss." First Aid said, slowly lifting the black box up and placing it beside Talac then opening it up carefully, obviously worried about what was in it. However, because of the angle, Talac couldn't see what was in it. Talac's breath began to come VERY rapidly. 

"It's… my cabbage-leaf and leaf-cutter ant sandwich." 

"You almost gave me a heart-attack! I thought you said that you were a pacifist!!" 

"I am. But I also enjoy a good laugh every now and then." 

"Oh! You, you… charlatan!!" 

"Charlatan?" 

"Quack, pretender, fraud, monobank…" 

"I think you got it right the first time." 

"Whatever!" 

"What's the verdict First Aid?" Nightwolf asked as he came up behind the two Maximals. 

"Well, it's like your 'Healer's Sight' said. I just never thought that I'd see this again." 

"'See this again'?" Talac gasped. "See what?!?" 

"Well, there's no official name for it. But basically? Well, it could easily be called alternate-mode lock." 

"I don't know what worries me more. The fact that I've got something, or the fact that what I've got is so rare that there's no official name for it." 

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Snarl sat lost in thought. '_Wonder when Talac'll come out._' Snarl shook his head. Why couldn't he get that femme out of his mind? Ever since he had laid eyes on her, it was like his thoughts had decided to revolve around her. He kept TRYING to get his mind onto different topic, but they eventually returned to revolve around Talac. 

"So, what's on your mind?" 

Snarl jumped nearly twice his height, spun around in midair and landed growling. 

To find himself looking at Rodeesh. 

"You enjoy doing that, don't you?" 

"Doing what?" 

"Sneaking up on people." 

"I didn't sneak! I walked!!" 

"Rod… You've got padded feet with fully retractable claws. That doesn't exactly make a lot of noise." 

"Why is it no one calls me Cheetor?" 

"'Cause your name is Rodeesh." 

The golden eagle-cheetah Fuzor sighed, rolled his eyes, and gave a friendly glare. "To get back on subject, Snarl. What's up?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"You're sitting at a rock staring at the med. bay doors like there was nothing else interesting in the world. I don't know… do you usually do this, Snarl?" 

Snarl sighed, "No." 

"Then what's up?" 

"I don't know?" 

"Well…" Cheetor said, laying down next to the black Tasmanian Devil in his beast-mode. "Tell me what you DO know and let's see if we can figure it out." 

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Talac glanced at the doors again, then hauled her attention back to Nightwolf and First Aid. They were still going over what they had to do and what they knew. 

Talac sighed and felt her optics wander back to the door even as her mind wandered back to another subject. 

Snarl. 

Talac shook her head. Why couldn't she get her mind off him? '_I see this guy for less than 3 megacycles and I fixate on him. Great, just great. What happens if he's already taken Talac? Huh? What'll you do if he likes someone else?_' 

Someone else? 

'_Of course someone else! What? Do you think that someone as smart as he is that's cute to boot doesn't already have a girl? THINK Talac!!_' 

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"And what makes you think that she doesn't like you, Snarl?" 

"Like me? Come on Rod! What? Do you think that someone as smart and funny and beautiful as her would be interested in someone like ME!?!" 

"What's wrong with you?" 

"Excuse me?" 

"I mean it. Tel me exactly what's wrong with you. I don't see anything. So please, enlighten me." 

"Well… I'm short." 

"So is Rattrap. And he had more than one, ahem, fling back on Cybertron." 

"I'm not handsome." 

"Really? Well then, you'll have to risk telling Windchaser, Skywitch and Black Aracnia that they're wrong." 

"That could be fatal." 

"I know." 

"You are REALLY annoying sometimes." 

"So are you. So… continue." 

"I'm not smart." 

"Yeah right!! You ARE smart, Snarl! Why else do you think I trusted you to go get those stasis-pods?!?" 

"Uhhhh… You know, it's impossible to have a bad day with you." 

  



	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

There's a difference between knowing what HAD to be done in order to heal someone, and knowing HOW to accomplish that. That was one of the reasons that not all Maximal's or Predicons with 'Healers Sight' become great medics. Their skill depended on whether or not someone trained them well enough to find the means after they had found the way. Nightwolf knew this very well, and he knew that he had excellent training and experiences, almost as good as First Aid. But still, there was a difference. 

A rather BIG difference. 

Very big. 

AND annoying. 

It didn't help matters that Talac was paying more attention to the door than the conversation. 

"Talac!" 

Talac whipped her head around at Nightwolf's shout. "Huh? What? Oh! Yes, Nightwolf?" 

Considering that we are talking about you Talac, you could pay attention." 

"Sorry." 

"Don't start, you're starting to sound like Windchaser." 

"Windchaser?" 

"That's right, you haven't met her yet." 

"To get back onto the subject you two." 

"Sorry, F.A." 

"Now YOU sound like Windchaser, Nightwolf." 

"Talac!" 

"What?" 

"Could you please tell me what is so interesting about the door?" 

"Nothing, Nightwolf." 

"Alight then. Well, we've figured out what we have to do so… let's get to work." 

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The ship spiraled out of control. It spun and bucked in the vastness of space. A thin steam of whitish gas left a trail, marking the way of the death ship. 

Six fighters hung limply within the gravity devoid ship. Four fighters floated in the command room, cruel faces still terrifying even in the passiveness of stasis-lock. Down in black hallways, within a dark room, a cage contains another unconscious Cybertronian. She is still bound to the walls of her cell. She too is unaware that her time draws close as the precious air slips out of the ship and into the silence of space. In another part of the black, cold ship, another femme floats. She, like the caged others is in stasis-lock. Hanging around her though, are nearly 50 stasis-pods. 

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WHAM!! "Oh! Red light." WHAM!! "Oh! Red light again." 

Skywitch blinked. How many times could he slam into a tree? As long as Nightwing looked ahead of himself, he was fine, but the nanoclick he glanced to the side, even if he didn't move his head, another tree got his imprint 

WHAM!! "OH! Red light." 

Like that one… 

Weren't bats supposed to have echolocation, like she did? 

Time to go back to the Drake… 

WHAM!! 

BEFORE they knocked over the entire forest… 

WHAM!!! 

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Snarl suddenly was very glad that Rodeesh was standing in front of him in battle-mode. He was sure that he must look pretty stupid with his battle-mode jaw on the floor. 

Talac. 

Who cared about Black Aracnia? She might be built nice, but she had a temper worse than Windchaser's, and you were more likely to wake up in the Matrix than with her if you slept with her. Plus, she had no sense of humor. 

Skywitch? Nope. Didn't even hold a candle to Talac. Besides, she and Nightwolf were a pair. 

Windchaser? Sure, but with the fact that she was twice his height and her sharp temper, there might have been a problem. Plus, she loved Rodeesh and Rod loved her, even if neither one of them would admit it. 

Talac. 

Beautiful was most defiantly an understatement. 

BIG understatement. 

VERY big. 

Who was he fooling? 

There was no way she'd like someone like him. 

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At the Predicon ship 'Inferno'… 

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"A ship?" 

*~ Yes. ~* 

"What type? Yeeeessssss." 

*~ Predicon Battlecrusier. Energy Signature identified. ~* 

"Which ship?" 

*~ Phantom Force. Four person fighting group. ~* 

"Hmmmmmm… Interesting, yeeeessssss." 

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**Back to the Drake… **

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'_What to do?!? What to do!?!_' Cheetor glanced back at Snarl. Well, at east his jaw wasn't hanging anymore, but the Tasmanian Devil still looked poleaxed. '_Okay, cat. You got him in here, NOW what? -Uhhh, hi Talac, meet Snarl. He really likes you and he's a nice guy. Do you like him?- What if she doesn't!?! What if she does?!? I am SO not good at this!!_' 

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Talac gulped. 

Cute, smart, and funny? 

Well, the smart and funny part was right. 

Cute was an understatement though. 

There no possible he'd like someone like her. 

Cheetor looked at Talac. '_Cute kid. I especially like the sword effect._' Talac stood at about Air Razor's height, maybe a bit shorter. That would put either eye to eye or a bit shorter than Snarl. 

Talac transformed much like Snarl. Her beast-mode head became her battle-mode feet, and unlike Snarl, her lower jaw did not become her chest plate, instead into became the back of each of her feet. Her tail detached and became an arm cannon like the Predicon Megatron had originally had. Her kangaroo back legs swung around and crossed over her back, giving the look of crossed swords. She did not have ordinary optics, instead she had a single red band, like Jazz of the Autobots. Her robotic hands switched with her beast-mode paws, much like Depthcharge did. All in all, the gray girl with the dramatic red highlights was definitely worthy of a second glance. She was almost as beautiful as Windchaser. 

Almost. 

But not quite. 

'_Too bad 'Chase doesn't like ME_.' 

But back to business. 

"Pleased to met you Talac. I'm Cheetor…" 

Three voices rebutted that almost immediately, Nightwolf telling Talac that it was 'Street Cat' and not 'Cheetor', while First Aid and Snarl insisted on it being 'Rodeesh'. 

Cheetor sighed, then continued on like the interruption hadn't occurred. "I'm the leader of the Strike Team. Optimus is currently trying to convince me into being Military Strategist, but I find myself doubting that the others will go for that." 

"Okay. I'm Talac, computer specialist, scientist, and scout." 

"Scout?" 

"Hey! That's the right word!!" 

"Oh. I know. I was just thinking out loud. Pardon me you three? I just remembered that Optimus scheduled an attempt to talk me into being military strategist in a few nanoclicks. Gotta go!" 

Cheetor quickly slid out the medical bay doors, glad that the others had accepted his quick lie. He was sure that they would see that he wasn't planning to let Optimus talk about military strategists. '_Scout huh? Well, I wonder if I can convince Optimus to assign our two scouts to patrol since the emotional backwash that I got from Talac points to her liking Snarl. Hmmm… Now, how can I make this work?_' 

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If anyone in the ship had been awake, they would have been startled at the blue and green globe that filled the forward screens. They would have begun to worry when the computers reported that they had been caught in the planet's gravity well. But no one was awake, there was no one to wonder at the lush beauty or the fact that there was a surprising amount of liquid that covered the planet's surface, so unlike the metallic and nearly waterless Cybertron. 

The small ship began to fall towards the Cybertron sized planet. 

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Was Cheetor EVER going to stop jumping on the table? 

It WAS a bit funny, he guessed. Even when the cat was mentally a physically half again his old age. If Cheetor was in beast-mode, and no one was using the table to check something, on the table he jumped. 

Oh well, at least it was something to count on. 

Even if it WAS annoying. 

But he shouldn't say anything about it… 

Then again… 

"You're annoying. Ya know dat, right kiddo?" 

"Yup." 

"Isn't even a bit sorry. Optimus are ya SURE ya want HIM ta be a military strategist?" 

"Yes Rattrap, I'm sure." 

"Slag. We're all gonna die." 

Shut-up Rattrap." 

"Hey, Big-Bot; before you begin your speech… I've got a question for you." 

"What is it Cheetor?" 

"I was thinking… Do we need any scouts?" 

  



End file.
